Collator



J. MAGARINOS ET AL 2,770,456

COLLATOR Nov, 13, 1956 Filed Feb. 14, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet l Invenfors Joseph Maya/mos Floyd 6. Hoffman Nova 13, 1956 J. MAGARINOS ETAL COLLATOR 3 Shets-$heet 3 Filed Feb. 14, 1952 Invenfors Joseph Magarmos Floyd Q Hoffman nited States Patent COLLATOR Joseph Magarinos and Floyd C. Hoifman, Chicago, lll., assignors to Courier-Citizen Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 14, 1952, Serial No. 271,573

8 Claims. (Cl. 270-58) This invention relates to collators for performance of the operation of gathering sheets of paper, as where a number of carbon tissues are to be assembled with a plurality of sheets to form a collated stack of papers for the formation of an original and a number of carbon copies. The machine of the present invention is useful for collating sheets for a wide variety of typing jobs, one particular example of which is the assembly of printed forms, such as insurance policies, freight bills, invoices, and the like, interspersed with carbon tissues for the application of specific data to all of the sheets by a single typing or writing operation. The machine is also capable of other uses and the same may, if desired, be employed to collate successive pages of sheets of material for books, pamphlets or the like.

it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a novel type of feed mechanism for collating machines of the superimposed tray type which operates efiiciently to impel the uppermost sheet in each stack forwardly during the operative stroke of the feed carriage and which automatically moves to a position wherein it clears the stack during the return stroke of the carriage.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a collating machine of the superimposed tray type wherein the feeding mechanisms for the various trays may selectively be disabled at will to prevent feeding of the sheets from the stack or stacks in any selected tray or trays. By such an arrangement small gatherings are readily made possible by the simple expedient of disabling feed mechanism for the unused trays.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a collating machine of the multiple bin or tray type which may be readily assembled from preformed parts to any desired machine capacity. It is, moreover, an object of the invention to provide a machine of this character which after assembly may, by the simple expedient of addition or removal of parts, be converted for greater or lesser capacity respectively.

The provision of a collating machine which is relatively simple in its construction and which consequently may be manufactured at a low cost; one which is rugged and durable and which is possessed of a minimum number of moving parts and which, therefore, is unlikely to get out of order; one in which the various parts thereof are readily accessible for the purpose of inspection or replacement; one which is extremely efiicient in its operation and which is capable of high speed collating operations, and one which otherwise is well adapted to perform the services required of it are further desirable features that have been borne in mind in the production and development of the present invention.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, one embodiment of the invention has been shown.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front view of a collating machine constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the machine of Figure 1 taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view, similar to Figure 4, show ing the parts in a different position.

Reference may now be had more particularly to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to Figures 1 and 2, a collating machine 10 is shown mounted on an operating table or platform 12. The machine has a stationary framework including a pair of lower supporting angle pieces 14 and 16 (Fig. 3) which are bolted at 18 to the top of the table 12. Front and rear spacer bars 19 extend between the angle pieces 14 and 16 and secure them together. A pair of front standards 20 and 22 and a similar pair of rear standards 24 and 26 project upwardly from these angle pieces. A plurality of vertically spaced parallel inclined trays or supporting bins 28 extend between the four standards and are secured thereto in any suitable manner as, for instance, by means of angle brackets 29' and nut and bolt assemblies 30. The trays 28 are inclined forwardly and upwardly as shown in Figure 2 and each tray has adjustably secured thereto at one side thereof a short angle piece 31 providing a vertical guide plate 32 for one edge of a stack of sheets, such as the stack S shown in Figures 2 and 4. A similar angle piece 34 is suitably adjustably secured to each tray 28 in the medial rear regions thereof and affords an upstanding back stop or rest 36 for the rear edge of the stack S. The angle pieces are secured in place by screws the heads of which bear against the corresponding angle pieces and the shanks of which extend through elongated slots in the angle piece and thread into the guide plate.

At the left hand side of the machine as viewed in Figure 3, the edges of the various trays 28 are turned laterally as at 42 and extend upwardly inside the standards 22 and 26 to provide tray sides.

Means are provided for simultaneously feeding the uppermost sheet in each stack S forwardly of the machine and outwardly of the particular tray on which the stack rests. Toward this end a reciprocable carriage or frame designated in its entirety at 44 is provided. The framelike carriage 44 includes a pair of vertical side members 46 and 48 on opposite sides of the stationary machine framework and which are connected by a plurality of cross bars or rods 50 each of which extends between adjacent superimposed trays 28. The side members 46 and 48, together with the transverse rods 50, constitute a substantially rigid reciprocable frame structure. The carriage 44 is slidable upon a pair of guide rails 52-54 that are secured by studs 56 to the respective pairs of side standards and are at the same inclination as the various trays 28. Each side member 46 and 4-8 is supported by a block 58 and each block is provided with a cap member 63 which is suitably secured thereto and which is of U- shape configuration and cross section. The blocks 53 and cap member 60 constitute slide block assemblies through which the respective guide rails 52 and 54 extend and on which the block assemblies are slidable to permit the carriage 44 to traverse the various bins from a retracted position wherein the carriage is in close proximity to the rear standards 24 and 26 to an advanced position wherein it is in close proximity to the front standards 20 and 22, and vice versa. In thus traversing the bins in a fore and aft direction, the cross bars or rods 50 are caused to move in unison to and fro and pass over the various stacks S which may be supported in operative position on the various trays 28.

Each rod. 5 9 has mounted thereon substantially centrally thereof a pusher arm 62, the inner end of which is provided with a sleeve 64 which surrounds the rod 59 and is freely rotatable thereon. The pusher arm 62 projects forwardly from the shaft 50 and the free or distal end thereof is adapted to frictionally and telescopically receive thereover a rubber or other friction element 66 (Figs. 4- and 5) having a fiat paper-engaging surface 68 designed for engagement with the uppermost sheet of paper in the stack S when the arm 62 is in a lowered position. A limiting collar 70 or the like may be formed on the arm 62 adjacent the outer end thereof to determine the position of the friction element 66 accurately when the latter is telescoped on the end of the arm. For convenience the arm 62 may be of a diameter substantially equal to that of an ordinary lead pencil, and the friction element 66 may be in the form of a conventional slip-over rubber eraser having a tubular shank portion 72, and the usual wedge shape erasing block '74 which provides the friction surface 68 previously referred to. Thus, a supply of these friction elements 66 is readily available for replacement purposes. A split collar or half-moon device 76 (Fig. 3) may be provided on the shaft 50 to prevent lateral shifting of the pusher arm 62 in one direction.

Disposed between the pusher arm 62 and side member 46 and loosely surrounding the rod 50 is a tubular rock shaft or sleeve 78 (Fig. 3) which spans the distance between the arm 62 and member 46. The end of the sleeve 78 adjacent the arm 62 has mounted thereon a lifting arm 8% the free or distal end of which carries a lifting finger 52 which passes through an enlarged boss 84 provided medially on the arm 62. The end of the sleeve 78 adjacent the side member 46 has mounted thereon a combined cam and cam finger and latch dog 86 from which there projects laterally a latch pin 88. The latch pin 83 cooperates with a latch member 96 which is pivoted as at 92 medially of its ends to the member 46. One end of the latch 96 has a notch 94 providing a latch recess, and the other end thereof carries a laterally projecting latch releasing pin 96. A limit stop pin 98 mounted on the side member 46 limits the pivotal movement of the latch 90 in one direction, and the member is normally biased by gravity so that the member 90 normally assumes a horizontal position. The end of the latch member 90 outwardly of the recess 94 has a cam surface 99 for cooperation with the latch pin 88, in a manner that will become clear presently.

As shown in Figures 2 and 4, when the latch assembly including the latch 90 and latch dog 86 are disengaged, the pusher arm 62 assumes a lowered position under the influence of gravity wherein the friction surface 68 will engage the uppermost sheet of paper in the stack S so that when the carriage is moved forwardly the sheet will be impelled forwardly from the stack S and out of the bin provided for it between adjacent trays 28. When I the latch parts are in their engaged position, as shown in Fig. 5, with the latch pin 83 resting in the notch 94, the pusher arm 62 will be maintained in the elevated position shown, wherein the friction element 66 clears the stack S, so that during return movement of the carriage the uppermost sheet of the stack will not be disturbed.

The upward inclined angle of the various tray bottoms assists in maintaining the penultimate upper sheet in each stack in its retracted position against the back stop 36 during feeding of the uppermost sheet from the stack. Referring now to Figures 2 and 5, a trip or ramp member 100 is pivotally secured as at 162 to the vertical standard 24- above each tray 28 and a limit stop pin 104 mounted on the member 24 determines the inclination of the upper edge 143-6 of the ramp member 106. When the ramp member 160 is in the position shown in Figure 5 and resting on the stop 104, the upper edge 106 constitutes an inclined ramp on which the pin 96 of the latch element 91) is adapted to ride upwardly when the carriage approaches its rearmost position. Such upward movement of the pin 96 tilts the latch member about its axis 92 in a clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 5 and withdraws the notch 94 from the latch pin 88 and thus disengages the latch, whereby the pusher arm 62 and latch dog 86 may, under the influence of gravity, move in a clockwise direction to cause the rubber friction element 66 to engage the upper sheet of the stack S. Thereafter, as the carriage moves forwardly, the upper sheet is fed from the machine in the man er previously described.

Now referring to Figures 3 and 4, an elongated cam plate 168 is suitably secured to the forward face of the standard 20 and is positioned in the path of movement of the latch dog 36. Thus, when the carriage 44 approaches its foremost position, the forward edge or surface of the latch dog 36 will engage the cam plate HES and be swung thereby in a direction counter-clockwise as seen in Figure 4, thus elevating the pin 88 and causing the same to ride over the cam surface 99 thus to raise the arm 62 to its elevated position and tilt the latch member 90 and permit the pin 33 to be received in the notch 94, so that the latch elements will become engaged and hold the arm in the position s own in Figure 5. With the arm 62 elevated and the friction element 66 raised above the level of the uppermost sheet in the stack S, the parts will remain in this position during the return stroke of the carriage.

Means are provided whereby the various pusher arms 62 may selectively be disabled by the simple expedient of disabling the operation of their respective latch tripping mechanisms including the trip meurbcrs ltlii. Toward this end each trip member 166 is pi t d for swinging movement from the full line position it ustrated in Figure 5 to the dotted line position thereof, which is a past center position where it will abut the pin iii 4 and be held in that position by gravity. When any particular latch member is manually moved to its dotted line inoperative position it will fail to trip the latch member when the carriage moves to its rearmost position and thus the pin 88 of the latch dog 86 will remain engaged by the notch 94, and the friction element 66 will remain elevated so that upon a succeeding forward stroke of the carriage 44, the uppermost sheet in the corresponding stack S will not be disturbed.

From the above description it will, be apparent that when the carriage 4d is moved in a forward direction, each of the pusher elements 66 will engage the upper sheet in a respective stack S which it overlies and impel the sheet forwardly of the tray structure. The forward ends of the sheets thus undergoing feeding will thus curve downwardly as indicated in Figure 4 in overlapping relationship where they may conveniently be grasped by the operator and removed from the machine.

The sheets on some of the trays may be substantially thinner than the sheets on other of the trays as, for instance, very thin, single use sheets of carbon paper which may have to be collated with sheets of substantially greater thickness. As the sheets of paper are advanced by the pushers on the collator they flex downwardly as shown in Figure 4. The thinner sheet, having less rigidity, will tend to become more limp than the sheet on the subjaccnt tray which may be stiffer. In order to stiffen the thinner sheets means may be provided in some or all of the trays for bulging the stack of sheets on that tray in the proper location. This may comprise narrow bars that are secured one to each tray where stiffening of the paper is desired and extend from the front edge of the tray towards the rear of the tray. These rods may extend up to the angle pieces 34 or for any lesser distance. These bars may be releasably secured to the tray in any desired manner or, in the case of iron or steel trays, the bars 105 may be of magnetic material so that they will be held magnetically in the position in which they have been placed. Each one of these bars is of a height of the order of a fraction of one inch, in one construction being of the order of one-fourth inch. When a stack of pages,

such as very thin, single use carbon sheets, is placed on one of the trays or bins that has a spacer bar 105 thereon, the stack of pages will be bulged or upwardly arched by the spacer bar, the peak of the arch being above and in line with the spacer 105. As this upwardly arched sheet of paper is pushed forwardly by the pusher the arching of the sheet produces a stiffness whereby the top sheet of the stack can be pushed a greater distance forward of its subjacent sheet before the projected portion of the pushed sheet becomes flabby and arches rapidly downwardly. These spacer bars are placed in whichever bins they are required and are removed therefrom when not required. In view of the fact that the spacer bars are required only when dealing with thinner sheets of paper it may be seen that the placing of these spacer bars in the bins does not reduce the sheet-carrying capacity of the machine because the sheet-carrying capacity is determined by the space occupied by the thicker sheets in an adjacent bin.

In view of the fact that the bottom of the tray may become smooth and therefore offer little friction to lowermost sheets, it is desirable to place a piece of cardboard or blotter paper on the bottom of the tray so that when the machine feeds the next to the lowermost sheet remaining in the tray that sheet will not drag with it the subjacent sheet.

Any suitable means may be provided for reciprocating the carriage 44 and in Figures 2 and 3 a semi-automatic treadle operated carriage reciprocating mechanism involving the use of a one-revolution clutch has been shown. As shown in these views, a pair of oscillatable driving arms 110 are mounted on a rock shaft 112 which extends between the angle pieces 14 and 16. Connecting links 114 connect the distal ends of the driving arms 110 to the block assemblies 58, 60 which support the carriage side members 46 -48. A lever arm 116 mounted on the rock shaft 112 has its end connected through a link 118 with an eccentric arm 120 mounted on the driven shaft 122 of a conventional one-revolution clutch 124 having operatively associated therewith a drive motor M. The clutch trip mechanism, designated in its entirety at 126, is adapted to be operatively connected through a treadle link 128, which may pass through an opening in the table 12 with a suitable treadle not shown. Upon depression of the treadle link 128 the one-revolution clutch 124 will be released and upon cyclic performance thereof the carriage 44 will be moved from its retracted or rearmost position throughout one complete cycle wherein it advances to its foremost position and is thereafter returned to its initial position to feed one complete set of papers from the machine in properly collated condition.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes we have here shown and described a preferred embodiment of our invention. It is, however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction here shown, the same being merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. What we consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a collating machine of the character described, a stationary framework including a plurality of superposed trays providing a series of bins therebetween each adapted to receive therein a stack of paper sheets, the trays being inclined and with their forward edge uppermost a reciprocable carriage mounted on said framework for movement in a fore and aft direction at an inclination parallel to the trays, pusher arms pivoted to the carriage and each overlying a tray, each arm being movable from a lowered operative position wherein it engages the uppermost sheet in a stack to an elevated inoperative position wherein it clears said stack, means operable when said carriage approaches its foremost position for moving said arms to their elevated positions, means operable when said carriage approaches its rearmost position for causing said elements to be lowered into stack-engaging positions, means for selectively disabling the last named means of any selected ones of the pusher arms whereby the selected ones of the pusher arms are maintained in their inoperative positions, and means for reciprocating said carriage, whereby forward movement of each lowered arm causes it to move the top sheet of its stack forwardly in an upwardly inclined path.

2. In a collating machine of the character described, a stationary framework including a plurality of superposed trays providing a series of bins therebetween each adapted to receive therein a stack of paper sheets, the trays being inclined and with their forward edge uppermost a reciprocable carriage mounted on said framework for movement in a fore and aft direction at an inclination parallel to the trays, pusher elements each overlying a tray and each mounted on the carriage, each element being movable from a lowered operative position wherein it engages the uppermost sheet in a stack to an elevated inoperative position wherein it clears said stack, means operable when said carriage approaches its foremost position for moving said elements to their elevated positions, releasable holding means individual to each element for maintaining the same elevated during the return stroke of the carriage, means individual to each holding means for releasing the same upon movement of the carriage to its rearmost position, means for selectively disabling said releasing means, and means for reciprocating said carriage, whereby forward movement of each lowered arm causes it to move the top sheet of its stack forwardly in an upwardly inclined path.

3. In a collating machine of the character described, a stationary framework including a plurality of superposed trays providing a series of bins therebetween each adapted to receive therein a stack of paper sheets, the trays being inclined and with their forward edge uppermost a reciprocable carriage mounted on said framework for movement in a fore and aft direction at an inclination parallel to the trays, pusher elements each overlying a tray and each mounted on the carriage, each element being movable from a lowered operative position wherein it engages the uppermost sheet in a stack to an elevated inoperative position wherein it clears said stack, means operable when said carriage approaches its foremost position for moving said elements to their elevated positions, and means individual to the respective elements and con trolled by movement of the carriage for moving the respective elements to their operative position, said individual means being each mounted for'movement from an effective position to an ineffective position where said respective individual means is ineffective, whereby forward movement of each lowered arm causes it to move the top sheet of its stack forwardly in an upwardly inclined path.

4. In a collating machine of the character described, a stationary framework including a plurality of superposed trays each adapted to receive therein a stack of paper sheets, a reciprocable carriage mounted on the framework for movement in a fore and aft direction, pusher arms each overlying a different tray and pivoted to the carriage, said arms being individually movable from lowered positions wherein their free ends rest by gravity upon the uppermost sheet in a stack to elevated positions wherein said ends clear the stack, means effective when said carriage approaches its foremost position for elevating said arms, releasable holding means individual to each arm and mounted on the carriage and movable bodily therewith and movable with respect to the associated arm form a released position to a holding position for maintaining said arm elevated during the return stroke of the carriage, means mounted on the framework and individual to each of said holding means for engaging the latter when said carriage approaches its rearmost position to release the same, means for selectively rendering said releasing means inoperative, and means for reciprocating said carriage.

5. In a collating machine of the character described, a stationary framework including a plurality of superposed trays each adapted to receive thereon a stack of paper sheets, a reciprocable carriage mounted on the framework for movement in a fore and aft direction, pusher arms each overlying a different tray and pivoted to the carriage, said arms being individually movable from lowered positions wherein their free ends rest by gravity upon the uppermost sheet in a stack to elevated positions wherein said ends clear the stack, cooperating means on said framework and carriage for elevating said arms when said carriage approaches its foremost position, releasable means mounted on the carriage and movable bodily therewith and movable with respect to the associated arm from a released position to a holding position for maintaining each arm elevated during the return stroke of the carriage, means mounted on the framework and individual to each of said holding means for engaging the latter when the carriage approaches its rearmost position to release the same, means for selectively disabling said releasing means, and means for reciprocating said carriage.

6. In a collating machine of the character described, a support adapted to receive a stack of papers loosely thereon and means for feeding individual sheets of paper forwardly from said stack, said means comprising a reciprocable carriage movable in a fore and aft direction relative to the stack, a pusher arm overlying said support and pivoted for swinging movement at one end to said carriage, said arm being movable from a lowered position wherein its free end engages the uppermost sheet in said stack to an elevated position wherein said free end clears the stack, a latch dog rigid with the pusher arm for swinging movements in unison, a latch member movably mounted on the carriage and designed for latching engagement with said dog, said dog when in latching engagement with the latch member serving tomaintain said pusher arm elevated, a trip member positioned in the path of movement of said latch member and adapted to engage and trip the latter when said carriage approaches its rearmost position, means operable at will for disabling said trip member, and means operable when said carriage approaches its foremost position for moving said dog into latching cooperation with said latch member.

7. In a collating machine of the character described, a stationary framework including a plurality of superposed trays providing a series of bins therebetween each adapted to receive therein a stack of paper sheets, the trays being inclined and with their forward edge uppermost, a reciprocable carriage mounted on said framework for movement in a fore and aft direction at an inclination parallel to the trays, pusher arms each overlying a tray, each arm being movable from a lowered operative position wherein it engages the uppermost sheet in a stack to an elevated inoperative position wherein it clears said stack, means operable when said carriage'approaches its foremost position for moving said arms to their elevated positions, means operable when said carriage approaches its rearmost position for causing said elements to be lowered into stack-engaging positions, means for reciprocating said carriage whereby forward movement of each lowered arm causes it to move the top sheet of its stack forwardly in an upwardly inclined path, the space between the top and bottom trays at the forward ends thereof being free to permit downward flexing of advancing sheets of paper as the sheets are advanced from the forward edge of the trays above the first, and means associated with some of the trays for bowing the advancing sheet thereof upwardly along a line directed lengthwise of the direction of advance thereof thereby increasing the stiffness of the advancing sheet against downward flexing.

8. In a collating machine of the character described, a stationary framework including a number of superimposed trays providing a series of bins therebetween each adapted to receive therein a stack of sheets, a reciprocable carriage mounted on said framework for movement in a fore and aft direction, means carried by said carriage for impelling the uppermost sheet of the stack forwardly to discharge the sheet from said bin, and means extending medially and lengthwise along the top surface of a tray from the front edge thereof which is adapted to engage the bottom of a stack of sheets and raise the central portions of the sheets above the side edges thereof to increase the stiffness of the advancing sheet to inhibit the downward flexing thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS .2. a" "ar 

